The Changing Seasons – February 2019

 

It´s time again for the wonderful challenge The Changing Seasons hosted by my dear friend Su from Zimmerbitch!

 

Writing this post, I noticed that the main activities I seem to have been concentrating on, were crocheting/knitting and baking(=eating).

To be honest, this pretty much sums it up. 😉

Since it’s still winter around here, most of the things I do tend to take place inside, where it’s warm and cosy.

As to the baking and eating part – yeah, there´s lots of that too, as you will see. 😉

 

Amigurumi

 

Already started at the end of January but completed at the beginning of February was this little baby blue elephant.

 

Amigurumi elefant (Febr. 2019)

 

This one was quite a challenge as I had to seamlessly join the four legs to then crotchet the body, all in one part.

Patience seems to be the major part when it comes to crocheting these little amigurumi animals.

 

Amigurumi elefant (Febr. 2019)

 

And it’s so lovely to have them all together, keeping me company when I’m working at my desk…

 

Family of Three – amigurumi Llama, elephant and fox (Fear. 2019)

 

Baking Fever

 

German television is providing us with a huge amount of baking shows at the moment, even VIP’s are doing it – and are actually surprisingly good at it too.

Having discovered my love for homemade sourdough bread last year, I usually do one loaf a week.

Most of the time I add a cup of sunflower seeds, or roasted walnuts which both give the bread a lovely flavor, especially when toasted.

 

Sourdough bread (Febr. 2019)

 

The funny thing is, no matter how often I already did this, every once in a while the bread doesn’t rise at the prepared cuts on the upside, but decides to do it its way:

 

Lovely if somewhat surprising crust at the side of the sourdough bread (Fear. 2019)

 

The television shows however made me want to leave my comfort zone of baking and try something new – I’m talking fancy cakes!

Alright, I’m the first to admit that my Black Forest Gateau can’t really compete with what those pâtissiers or pastry chefs can do BUT: it really tastes soooo good! 😉

 

Yum Yum! Eh… I mean: Black Forest Gateau 😉 (Febr. 2019)

 

I did this cake last Sunday – and there are only two pieces left!! (Okay, I did have some help, but not much. 😉 )

 

Detail Black Forest Gateau (Febr. 2019)

 

Knitting and Felting

 

I’ve done it before and very likely will do it again because it’s a lot of fun and a wonderful way to keep warm – felting.

It’s quite easy too, just buy some virgin wool in the color of your choice and start knitting. Take care to knit whatever you have in mind almost double in size because once you felt it in your washing machine, it will shrink to about 60 or 70 % of the original.

Because the last pair of slippers that I knit-felted almost two years ago, were about to become threadbare from constant wearing, it was time to make another one. (Click here if you’re curious to see the first pair and/or here if you want to know how you can show your laptop the love it deserves. 😉 )

 

Knitted slippers yet to be felted (Febr. 2019)

 

It’s always amazing – and a bit frightening too! – how much the knitted parts shrink in your washing machine. I added my pen to the photos to give you some kind of scale.

 

Knitted and felted slippers (Febr. 2019)

 

If you look up close, you can still see the knitting…

 

Felted slippers detail (Febr. 2019)

 

Felted slippers detail (Febr. 2019)

 

And more Amigurumi…

 

Because it’s so much fun and I don’t seem to be able to stop, I did another amigurumi at the end of February, this time a koala!

 

Amigurumi koala (Febr. 2019)

 

I’m planning to do a little amigurumi koala baby next month to keep it company and maybe even a little tree to which Mama koala can cling on.

 

Close-up amigurumi koala (Febr. 2019)

 

Amigurumi koala detail (Febr. 2019)

Pensive koala “Where’s my baby?” – Don’t worry, I’m working on it. 😉 (Febr. 2019)

 

“We Are Family!” – Happy amigurumi family of four (Febr. 2019)

 

And this was it!

 

If you’re interested in participating, here are the guidelines for The Changing Seasons Challenge:

The Changing Seasons Version One (photographic):

• Each month, post 5-20 photos in a gallery that you feel represent your month
• Don’t use photos from your archive. Only new shots.
• Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so that others can find them

The Changing Seasons Version Two (you choose the format):

• Each month, post a photo, recipe, painting, drawing, video, whatever that you feel says something about your month
• Don’t use archive stuff. Only new material!
• Tag your posts with #MonthlyPhotoChallenge and #TheChangingSeasons so others can find them.

If you do a ping-back to Su´s original monthly post, she can update it with links to yours.